_________________________________________
Saturday 29th October 2011
Code-Breakers: Bletchley Park's Lost Heroes
BBC 2, 8.40pm - 9.40pm
Documentary that reveals the secret story behind one of the greatest intellectual feats of World War II, a feat that gave birth to the digital age. In 1943, a 24-year-old maths student and a GPO engineer combined to hack into Hitler's personal super-code machine - not Enigma but an even tougher system, which he called his 'secrets writer'. Their break turned the Battle of Kursk, powered the D-day landings and orchestrated the end of the conflict in Europe. But it was also to be used during the Cold War - which meant both men's achievements were hushed up and never officially recognised.
| The Story of Film: an Odyssey |
| More 4, 9.45pm - | 11.10pm |
_____________________________________________
Sunday 30th October 2011
| File on 4 |
World leaders preparing for the G20 conference are facing a threat to the global economy from the on-going Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. But as they try to avert further economic catastrophe some investors see opportunities to profit from the mayhem.
Michael Robinson reveals how on-going economic volatility and uncertainty can also present golden investment opportunities - and how, through complex trades, bets and investments, some find cash in the current crisis.
Producer: Gail Champion
Reporter: Michael Robinson
Editor: David Ross.
____________________________________________
Monday 31st October 2011
A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss
BBC 4, 11.00pm - 12 midnight
Three-part series in which actor and writer Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen, Doctor Who, Sherlock) celebrates the greatest achievements of horror cinema.
A lifelong fan of the genre, Mark begins by exploring the golden age of Hollywood horror. From the late 1920s until the 1940s, a succession of classic pictures and unforgettable actors defined the horror genre - including The Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney, Dracula with Bela Lugosi, and Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff.
Mark explains just how daring and pioneering these films were, and why they still send a chill down the spine today. He also traces how horror pictures evolved during this period, becoming camp and subversive (The Old Dark House and Bride of Frankenstein, both directed by Englishman James Whale), dark and perverse (films like Freaks, which used disabled performers), before a final flourish with the psychological horror of RKO Pictures' films (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie), which still influence directors today. However, by the early 1950s the monsters were facing their biggest threat - the rise of science fiction films in the post-war atomic era.
Along the way, Mark steps into some of the great sets from these classic films, hears first-hand accounts from Hollywood horror veterans, discovers Lon Chaney's head in a box and finds out why Bela Lugosi met his match in Golders Green
Picture Power
Radio 4, 3.45pm - 4.00pm
Miles Warde presents the first of five programmes featuring famous press photographers. Largely recorded in real time, they offer drama and insight into professionals at work. In the first programme James Hill of the New York Times gives up the chance to go to Libya in order to shoot the famous balcony kiss at this year's royal wedding between Catherine Middleton and Prince William.
"I don't know if this was a reward, or a punishment. Perhaps it was both," says the Moscow based photographer, winner of both the Pulitzer and the world press. His paper paid £900 to put him on the stand at the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, but he is further from the balcony than he had guessed, and he has the wrong lens. James Hill shares his thoughts on this 'blink and you miss it' event - the anguish and stress - via a microphone we gave him before the day began
__________________________________________________
Tuesday 1st November 2011
| Blackpool on Film |
From the earliest Victorian filmmakers to the news cameras of today, this programme uses moving images from almost every decade in between to tell the story of this fascinating seaside town. With wall-to-wall archive including newsreel, documentary films and entertainment shows, it explores over a century of filmmaking to get to the heart of a remarkable British holiday resort.
Picture Power
Radio 4, 3.45pm - 4.00pm
Miles Warde presents the second of five programmes featuring photographers capturing the most dramatic events of the past year. When Lewis Whyld of the Press Association arrived on Tottenham High Street on August 6th, the first and fiercest night of this summer's riots, he soon saw three other photographers being attacked. For the next hour therefore he shot on his mobile phone, and only pulled out his cameras once it was dark. Shooting by the light of the police helicopter searchlight, Lewis captured images that went right round the world. In this compelling account of an extremely difficult assignment, he draws parallels between what was happening in north London, and what he had witnessed earlier this year in the riots Tahrir Square in Cairo. This programme is filled with extraordinary detail, and reveals how little are the rewards for photographers who risk everything in order to witness events.
| Law in Action |
In this programme, Joshua Rozenberg reveals new statistics on the use of so-called 'taken into consideration' offences. After their arrest, some suspects confess to additional crimes to wipe the slate clean. But with no prosecution or trial, can these admissions of guilt really count as solved crimes?
Law in Action also looks into the issue of false confessions and asks why people admit to a crime they didn't commit. Some suspects may find themselves convicted of a crime even when they retract their initial statements. Research from the US indicates that one in five death row inmates exonerated by DNA evidence falsely confessed to murder. Closer to home, a study shows that false confessions can set off a chain of events that can skew the justice system against an innocent suspect.
The programme also examines proposed anti-sectarianism football legislation in Scotland. The law is designed to crack down on the kinds of ugly violence that plagued Rangers and Celtic matches last season. But the one thing that seems to unite the supporters of the two clubs is their opposition to the bill, and few others in Scotland see the need for new legislation to tackle sectarian violence. In this programme, Joshua Rozenberg explores the roots of Scottish sectarianism and finds out how the law deals with it.
__________________________________________________
Wednesday 2nd November 2011
| Imagine... And Then There Was Television |
Alan Yentob celebrates the 70th anniversary of the world's first scheduled high-definition television service, by the BBC from Alexandra Palace in 1936. He take some of the pioneering engineers and on-screen talent back to the studios to see what they can remember of TV's early days - from Picture Page to Muffin the Mule to the first news programme and the potter's wheel 'interlude'. Plus, some amazing archive footage and the Queen's 1953 coronation, the event that single-handedly changed how people viewed the fledgling TV service
| Unreliable Evidence |
Clive Anderson and some of the country's top lawyers and judges discuss legal issues of the day.
The third programme in the series explores the moral and ethical dilemmas faced by lawyers including those who are required to defend clients accused of rape, murder and other heinous crimes. What should a lawyer do if he or she knows or strongly suspects that a client is guilty?
The brutal cross-examination in court of the parents of murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler raised concerns about the rules that control the limits to which a lawyer can go to defend a client in court. Are the rules fair?
Among Clive's guests is Jeremy Moore, the solicitor who had briefed the defence barrister in the Millie Dowler murder trial. He staunchly defends the cross-examination tactics.
The other guests are leading barristers Chris Sallon QC and Dinah Rose QC and Court of Appeal judge Lord Justice Alan Moses, who defend the legal profession against a range of criticisms levelled by the public.
Clive Anderson asks if the behaviour of lawyers needs to be more closely regulated or if we can we rely on their professional judgment?
Picture Power
Radio 4, 3.45pm - 4.00pm
Reporter Miles Warde follows photographer Geoff Waugh during this year's Tour De France. It's the last stage in the Alps, on the twenty one bends of Alpe d'Huez, and Geoff Waugh has to find the best place to stand. Cycling photography is notoriously difficult - unlike most sports, the action is not contained to a stadium but spread out along a course over a hundred kilometres long. Geoff describes in gripping detail what it is like to hang off the back of a motorbike, large lenses flapping around, while following the race. We hear from the sun-crazed fans lining the course, and also capture Geoff at work as the main contenders, including Alberto Contador, come past. "It's arms, legs, flags, motorbikes, noise, burning clutches - 250th of a second snippets."
________________________________________
Thursday 3rd November 2011
| Britain on the Fiddle |
It is estimated that £22billion of taxpayers' money is effectively stolen or lost every year through fraud and error - more than the government's planned spending cuts each year. And the cost of fraud has risen by a third during this recession, money that could end up being taken out of genuine claimants' pockets.
In this Panorama Special, Richard Bilton uses undercover cameras to expose people on benefits sailing yachts and driving Bentleys. And he follows fraud investigators as they tackle the rising tide of benefits cheats using fake identities to steal millions.
Picture Power
Radio 4, 3.45pm - 4.00pm
The tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York's twin towers was a solemn and emotional event. Miles Warde follows photographer Jane Mingay of the Daily Telegraph as she searches for the image which captures the day. The reading of the long list of names of those who perished moves the photographer almost to tears. In 2005, Jane Mingay took perhaps the most iconic shot of the London terrorist bombings, of a woman being helped away from a tube station, her face wrapped in a burn mask
____________________________________________________________________
Friday 4th November 2011
| Unreported World |
Peter Oborne and James Jones follow the extraordinary actions of the mass youth movement dedicated to protecting the interests of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Russia.
| Nirvana Live at the Paramount |
2011 marks the 20th anniversary since the Nirvana album Nevermind, their major label debut, elevated Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl from a critically-acclaimed Aberdeen, Washington, cult band to generational spokesmen who'd unwittingly created a cultural shift and musical touchstone.
Rising to number 1 the world over by the end of 1991 and ultimately selling over 30 million copies worldwide, Nevermind would come to be much more than one of the most successful and influential albums of its or any era. This Halloween concert, recorded at the Paramount in the band's home town of Seattle in 1991, features a healthy sprinkling of tracks from Nevermind including Lithium, Polly, Breed and Smells Like Teen Spirit, as well as fan favourites Silver and About a Girl.
As the band that returned unaffected rock 'n' roll integrity and passion to the top of the charts, they proved a singular inspiration to fans and musicians alike over the last two decades, and will undoubtedly do so for generations to come.
The Paramount concert, transferred from 16mm film and multi-track audio, is the only known Nirvana concert to be shot on film.
| Seven Ages of Rock |
The rock marathon continues with the story of the contrasting fates of two of America's biggest, most authentic bands: Nirvana and REM and the hidden links between them that almost saved the life of troubled Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain.
In 1991, Nirvana's Nevermind album launched the 'grunge' explosion that put the Seattle music scene on the map and gave a voice to the alienated youth pushed to one side by the Reagan revolution. But Cobain was a reluctant idol who struggled to cope with his new status and his band's growing mainstream appeal. Nirvana had their roots in the underground and college music scene pioneered by bands like REM and Pixies and this programme tells how REM also ended up gravitating towards Seattle, where a friendship developed between lead singer Michael Stipe and Cobain.
In the end it wasn't enough to save Cobain, who killed himself in 1994, but his triumph and tragedy continues to cast a powerful shadow over the whole of rock
| Picture Power |
Miles Warde talks to photographer Mike Goldwater, recently back from Rwanda where he made moving recordings of the people he photographed. These include a woman whose husband is now in jail for genocide crimes. Mike was in Rwanda during the genocide, and won a world press award for his picture of a young Hutu girl caught up in the ethnic fighting in Burundi the previous year. We hear from both the photographer and his subjects about how the war affected their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment